Sing me a lovesong
by Love2loveHH
Summary: When Loren Tate was tricked by her best friend into going to audition on The Talent Search, she didn't once believe that she was going to win, not even going on to 2. round. She also didn't completely believe Mel when she said that her teen idol, Eddie Duran, was going to be a judge on the show. But what she definitely didn't believe was that she was going to find love...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys!**

**Okay so the last story didn't really turn out the way that I wanted it to. The end got kind of rushed, and I just didn't like the way that it turned out. So I'm trying again, I really hope you will enjoy this story!**

**NO REVIEWS = NO UPDATE**

**~Anna**

Loren's POV:

I was walking down the hall with _Something in the air_ by Eddie Duran blasting from my iPod into my ears. I absolutely love Eddie Duran. His melodies are so catchy, and his lyrics are so meaningful. And his looks aren't so bad either.

When I saw my plane, red locker I saw something taped to the outside. I furrowed my eyebrows and quickened my phase, curious as to what it was. I reached my locker I let out a sigh. I should have seen that coming.

It was a flyer for a TV show called The Talent Search. It's a talent show where you can either sing or dance. Auditions are this weekend, and my best friend Melissa has been trying to get me to audition all week. And every time she has asked me I've said no. She should know better than anyone how bad my stage fright is.

Speak of the devil and it shall appear.

"Soooooo…?" a girl voice spoke behind me, and I instantly knew who it was.

"Mel, I've already told you, no. I'm not gonna do it," I say while turning around to face Mel. To my surprise her boyfriend Adam was there too. I greet him with a quick `Hey´ and then turned back to Mel. That woman never stops. When she sets her mind on something, she does everything in her power to make it happen. She's just so persistent.

"Come on Lo!" she whines, "you have a great voice, you could totally win this thing! I know you can do it."

"Mel it's not that simple," I say gathering my books for my first class, which was Math. What a joy (note the sarcasm). "You know I have stage fright, Mel. I can't just go up on a stage and sing, especially not a huge crowd and three judges."

Mel suddenly got a mysterious glint in her eyes, like a light bulb went off in her head. Oh no, this can't be good.

I turned my back to her and started walking towards my first class of the day. I could hear Mel and Adam following behind me. Nope, no way. There was no way I could do it.

"Did you know that Eddie Duran is judge this year?"

I stop dead in my tracks. She's joking, right?

I slowly turned around and looked at her. I could always tell when she was lying, and she definitely wasn't. I've dreamed about meeting Eddie Duran as long as I can remember. I mean he's so talented and cool and funny… (insert dreamy look)… where was I?

"Mel, I don't know…"

"Lo, just promise you'll think about it," she says with pleading eyes. "Please, please, pretty please."

I knew she wasn't gonna stop pleading before I gave in, and come on, what's wrong about thinking about it?

"Urgh, okay fine. I promise I'll think about it."

"Mom, I'm home," I yell as I walk into the house. This day has been exhausting! Mel hasn't once stopped bugging me about auditioning on The Talent Search. To be honest I really wanna do it. I wanna go up on that stage and lose myself in the music. I wanna go up there sing my heart out. But I can't. I'm too scared.

"Hey honey, how was your day?" my mom asks from the kitchen. She is wiping of the kitchen table as I enter the kitchen. She's the best mom in the world. My dad walked out on us when I was four, and even though I miss him, he made his own choice. Mom took it quite hard, but she has managed to always be there for me.

"It was okay. Mel keeps bugging me about audition for this TV show though."

"What TV show"

"It's called The Talent Search," I say. "You can audition both as a singer or a dancer. Mel is trying to get me to audition."

"Well honey I think that's a great idea," she says. I turn my head around to look at her so quick that I'm surprised I didn't get a whiplash. She has a look on her face that says she is genuinely excited about the idea.

"Mom, you know I have stage fright," I say. I don't understand why they think that it's such a god idea. I'm not even that great of a singer.

My mom let out a sad sigh. She took my hand, led me to the table and sat down beside me. I could sense that there was going to come one of her motherly pep talks. But maybe that was exactly what I needed.

"Listen honey, I know that you're scared. And that's okay. I just don't want you to regret not going to that audition, and spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you had gone to that audition. I've heard you sing Loren, and you are amazing! If you go to that audition and the like it, it could be an amazing opportunity for you. But if they don't like it, which I highly doubt they will, then you haven't lost anything. Then you can just go on with your life."

She's right. I can't spend all my life being scared, and wondering what could have happened if I wasn't. I had to take some chances sometimes. But was it worth possibly humiliating myself on national television? I don't know.

"Thanks mom, you're right," I say.

"So you're gonna do it?" she asks with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"I'll think about it."

It's Saturday morning and I'm sitting in the kitchen eating cereal. There's audition today but I've decided not to do it. I mean what's the point? I'm not good enough anyway.

I hear the front door open and then I hear Mel's voice yelling `Hey´. I shouldn't be surprised she is the only person beside my mom why would just walk in without knocking.

"In the kitchen!" I yell back at her, and in just a matter of seconds she pokes her head through the doorway.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I ask her as she sits down in front of me on the other side of the table.

"I'm here to pick you up. So get that pretty butt off yours to work and put some nice clothes on," she says looking at my blue pajamas with cupcakes on. This is my favorite pajamas; it's so comfy and cute.

"What do you mean `pick me up´?" I ask her confusedly.

"It's a surprise," she says with a wicked smile. Oh no!

"Mel, I'm not gonna go out with that guy who spits, a lot may I add, when he talks, just so you can go out with his hot friend again. Besides you have a boyfriend," I say, standing up and putting my now empty bowl in the sink.

"First of all, you can't blame me for that, that guy was hot. Second of all, this is a great surprise I promise. Now get your pretty little butt moving so we can get going," she says, playfully slapping my butt.

I grin and shake my head as I walk down the hall to my room. I put on a pretty, white summer dress, a cowboy jacket and some ankle boots. I then straighten my hair and then put on some concealer and mascara. I like to keep my makeup minimal.

As I walk into the kitchen I see a note sitting on the kitchen table. I pick it up and read it.

_Hey honey!_

_I just went out to buy some groceries. _

_Mel has told me about the surprise she has planned for you._

_Good luck!_

_-Mom _

I frown. What does she mean good luck?

I walk into the living room to see Mel sitting on the couch with her phone in her hands.

"Hey Mel, what does my mom mean `good luck´?" I ask her. She stands up, giving me a small smile. She takes my hand and starts dragging me towards the door.

"Oh, nothing. Come on let's go, or were gonna be late."

"Late for what?"

"You'll see!" she chirps happily, as she drags me out the door.

**So that's the first chapter. Please give me feedback, support if you like this story by writing a review! Also if you have a song request please let me know! R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys!**

**I got 19 reviews on the first chapter, wuhuuuu! It's crazy I've never gotten that many reviews on a chapter before. Thanks so much for reading I really appreciate it!**

**NOR REVIEWS = NO UPDATE**

**~Anna**

Loren's POV:

"Mel I already told you, no! No, nope, not gonna do it."

After being stuck in LA traffic for about two hours we were now parked outside a huge building. But not just any building. No, because outside this building there was a long, and I mean very long, line of people and there was a big sign that said: The Talent Search auditions today!

I just can't believe her! I told her that I didn't want to do it, and yet she brought me here anyway.

"Please Lo! I know you can do it, I totally believe in you. And I'll be in the crowd cheering for you," she says with a small smile. I just stare at her with what I hope is an expressionless face. I don't need her to see how scared I really am right now. "Lo, I believe in you. You just need to believe in yourself too."

I sigh. She's right. I know she's right. I should have a little faith in myself.

"Fine I'll do it."

"Eeeeepp!" she chirps, doing a little happy dance in the front seat of her car, and even though I should be mad at her I can't help but chuckle. She's just crazy sometimes.

"Okay, let's go," she says while getting out of the car.

I get out of the car too, a little less enthusiastic than her, and we walk together towards the line. She stays in line with me for a little while, keeping me company. After nearly half an hour in the line Mel leaves me saying she has to go in and find her seat so that she can watch me `rock that stage and kick some butt´. Her words not mine.

I can feel my nerves grow as I slowly get closer and closer to the door. I can feel my hands shaking and my mind is racing with `what ifs´. What if they don't like it? What if I make a fool out of myself? What if I throw up on myself? I bet the people on YouTube would love that. Then they could just watch it over and over again. I am just about to turn around and walk away, when a monotone voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

"Next!"

The lady must be about 50 years old. Her grey hair is in a tight bun. It looks like she is trying to pull out the wrinkles on her face. Her face is caked with makeup, maybe she is trying to hide the fact that she is about to fall asleep. Let me tell you; it's not working.

"Name?"

"U-uhh, umm L-loren T-tate," I say. Nice job with the stuttering, Lo. Nice job.

"Singer or dancer?"

Wow, that woman sure knows how to keep her voice monotone.

"S-singer… ma'am." Okay I don't know why I called her ma'am. She's just kind of scary.

She looks up from her computer and silently raises one eyebrow at me. I just give her a small smile, as if to say sorry, and she looks back down at her computer.

"Right," she says, still in that infamous monotone voice of hers, and I let out a quiet sigh. "Here is your number; you can just wait over there."

I hesitantly take my number and walk in the direction she's pointing. I find a small table in the corner and sit down. I pull out my phone to try and figure out a song I could sing to my audition. I don't really have any time to rehearse so it has to be a song I know well so that I don't forget the lyrics. As I'm looking through my phone I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn around in my seat to see two men standing behind me. One of them has a big camera over his shoulder, and the other one has a microphone in his hand.

"Excuse me," the man with the microphone says, "we would like to interview you, would you be up for that?"

"Oh, n-no I...," I start saying but the man cut me off.

"It only takes a second I promise."

"But I don't want to…," I say but the man cut me off again. It's seriously starting to annoy me.

"Just one little interview and we'll leave," the man promises. I'm just about to give in when a voice interrupts me. Okay people seriously got to stop interrupting me all the time.

"She said she didn't want to do it, so I suggest you go find someone else to annoy," the voice behind me says. I turn around and see that it's a boy. He has blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes. He is very tall and you can tell that he has a lot of muscles underneath his white t-shirt.

The man with the microphone let out a huffed sound and turns around walking away. The boy still stands behind me watching them walk away. When they are far enough away he lets out a sigh and sits down beside me.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I say. "Thanks by the way."

He lets out a little chuckle. "Yeah I don't think that those guys know what the word `no´ means."

I can't help but laugh.

"I'm Cameron by the way," he says holding his hand out for me to shake.

I take his rough hand and give it a little shake. "I'm Loren."

"So are you singer or dancer?" he asks.

"I'm a singer. You?"

"I'm a dancer. I really want to be professional one day. I dream about…"

"Baaaaaaabbyyyyy!"

A high pitched voice cut him off. I look behind him to see a tall girl with curly, blonde hair and black 4 inch heels which only made her even taller. She glared at me and sat down beside Cameron. She laid a hand on his shoulder and clung to his arm.

"Loren this is my girlfriend Chloe, Chloe this is Loren," he says gesturing with his hand from me to Chloe and back again. Chloe gave me a sickening sweet smile and giggled a little. Okay either she's flirting with Cameron or just dumb.

Just as I was about to say `hi´ a woman came out a door in the back of the room an yelled a number.

"It's us," Cameron says. "We better get going. Come on Chloe."

"I'll be right there," Chloe says with her high pitched voice as Cameron stands up and starts walking towards the door. When he is out of earshot she turns to me and her smile drops.

"Listen here little girl, I know what type of person you are. You're the kind of girl that just walks around and steal other girls' boyfriends. But let me tell you it's not gonna work, and if you try to steal Cameron from me it's not gonna be pretty."

And then she walks away without even giving me a chance to reply.

I turn around to one of the big TV screens that are placed around the room. One those I could see what was happening out on the stage. I can see Cameron and Chloe walking out on the stage hand in hand. I can see their mouths moving but there isn't any sound on the TV so I can't hear what they're saying. Then they start dancing. They're doing a mash up between different styles of dancing. Chloe is twirling around doing different ballet moves. She's good. But Cameron… he's amazing! He is dancing more of a Hip-Hop style, and even though I know nothing about dancing, I can tell he's good. Heck, he's way more than that.

They stop dancing and the judges tell them what they think. I can't hear what they're saying but from the look on their faces it's good. Cameron and Chloe thank the judges and walk off the stage, but not before Chloe send a wink and a small, flirty smile to Eddie Duran. Poor Cameron.

After waiting for about another half an hour, the lady walks out the door and calls my number.

I slowly get up from my chair and take small steps towards the door. My legs feel heavy and my hands are shaking. Heck, my whole body is shaking.

I follow the lady down a narrow hallway, through another pair of doors and then we finally emerge behind the stage. I can hear crowd and that just makes me more nervous, if that's even possible. The only thing that is keeping me together right now is because I know Mel is out there, and she will support me, even if no one else will.

"Okay, I'm gonna count to three and then you're gonna walk out on the stage," the lady says.

"One…"

Oh no!

"Two…"

I can't do this!

"Three…"

I'm dead!

The lady must have sensed my nervousness because she gives me a little push. I stumble a little before taking a deep breath and walking out on the stage.

The sharp light almost blinds me as I step out on the stage. I can't see the crowd but I can definitely hear it. What I can see is the three judges sitting in front of me.

On the left is Jeffrey Marcus. He's kind of short and a little bit chubby but he definitely knows his stuff. He's a record producer and he's definitely the toughest one. It takes a lot for him to be fully pleased.

In the middle is Laura Jones. She has blonde hair with a couple of neon pink stripes in it, and I also notice that she has cute dimples. She is a professional dancer and normally quite positive. She always says what she means but in a nice way.

And then lastly there's Eddie Duran. He takes my breath away. Literally, I think I forgot to breathe. I mean I thought he was handsome before, but now he's just even more handsome. His brown eyes are shining in the strong light and his brown hair looks so soft, as it falls a little down his eyes.

"Hey sweetie, what's your name?" Laura asks.

"L-Loren Tate," I say. Urgh, Loren stop stuttering!

"And how old are you Loren?" Jeffrey asks.

"I'm 18."

"Are you a singer or a dancer?" Jeffrey asks again.

"I'm a singer," I say a little more confident. This isn't as bad as I thought.

"And why are you here Loren?" This time it's Eddie who speaks. His voice is so deep and it sounds so sexy when he says my name.

"B-because my best friend tricked me," I say without thinking.

I hear laughter erupting from the crowd and I can see Eddie's eyes shining with amusement. I have no idea why I just said that, but I'm glad they're finding it funny.

After the laughter has quieted down Laura speaks up.

"So what are you gonna sing for us today?"

"Umm, I-I'm gonna s-sing If I Can't Be With You by R5," I say. Great, now I'm stuttering again.

"Okay, just start when you're ready," Jeffrey says.

I hear the music start and I take a deep breath. When it's time for me to sing I open my mouth but no sound comes out. I can see the three judges looking confusedly at each other.

And then I'm running.

**What a cliffhanger! Sorry, it's so much fun to write cliffhangers but not to read them. What do you think will happen? Again if you have song requests I would love to hear them.**

**READ THIS: I will not be home from Monday to Friday because I'm going on a trip to Bornholm (a danish island) with my class. On Saturday I will be going to this soccer thing, so I will not update before Sunday.**

**As always R&R, share the love…**

**Okay? Bye! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys!**

**I've been feeling kind of down lately and you guys can't even begin to imagine how good it feels to read you guys reviews. And if you were wondering; yes I read every single review, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I look at my phone quite often to see if the has come any new reviews. Oh well, maybe a little embarrassed.**

**I don't know if any of you guys read these author notes, but if you do: Thank you!**

**NO REVIEWS = NO UPDATE**

**~Anna**

Loren's POV:

Okay, so I admit. Maybe running wasn't the best option, but I panicked. I felt so scared when I opened my mouth and no voice came out. I was like my stage fright came back with full force.

I was currently hiding somewhere backstage behind some boxes. I am having a hard time not hyperventilating. I can't believe I just ran off that stage! God, I'm so embarrassed.

I can hear people calling my name, and I can hear the curious mumbling from the crowd. But I don't react to any of it. I'm too busy freaking out!

I can hear man's voice calling my name. It's coming closer and I'm just about to get up and walk away, when the man enter my vision.

Eddie Duran.

I freeze in my spot on the floor. What's he doing here?

"Loren!" He sounds relieved. "I've been looking everywhere for you. What happened out there?" he asks as he sits down beside me. His gorgeous brown eyes look genuinely worried. I just don't understand why he would be worried about me.

"N-nothing, I-I'm fine. You don't h-have to w-worry about me," I stutter out. He's so close I can smell him. He smells like chocolate. Sweet, delicious chocolate.

"Of course I'm gonna worry about you. You ran out of there like your dog just died," he says with a little laugh and I can't help but smile.

"It's just stage fright it's no big deal," I say. I already feel more comfortable around him.

He lets out a quiet sigh. "You know the best way to conquer a fear is to face it. I know it can be difficult but you can't spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if I you weren't afraid."

I can't help but chuckle at that statement. "You sound like my mom," I say. Now it's his turn to chuckle. "Well, your mom sounds very smart," he says.

"Oh, she is. She always knows the right thing to say. She's the best," I say with a small smile playing on my lips. Eddie also has a small smile on his lips, but he looks like he's in another world. Maybe he's thinking about his mom. I don't know much about her other than the fact that she was a great singer. Eddie was crushed when she died a few years ago, in a car accident.

I stand up and dust the invisible dust off my dress. "Thank you, Eddie," I say.

That seems to snap him out of whatever was going on in his head. He frowns a stands up. "Thank you for what?"

"For making me realize that I need to go out on that stage and conquer my stage fright," I say. It's weird how with just words, he can make me feel more confident.

"I'm glad to be at your service my 'lady," he says in a stupid British accent, which make me giggle. "I have to get back out there but just come out when you're ready," he says before giving me a small smile and walking away.

I take a deep breath. I can do this. I can do this. I walk out to the side of the stage and see the lady who called my number standing there. She gives me an annoyed look, and I smile apologetic at her. She asks me if I'm ready and I nod; take another deep breath and walks out on stage.

The crowd starts clapping when I walk out on stage, and Eddie and Laura looks at me with supportive smiles, while Jeffrey just looks annoyed.

"Sorry about that," I breathe out when I reach the microphone in the middle of the stage.

"That's okay sweetie, are you ready now?" Laura asks and I nod my head yes. I hear the music start and I close my eyes and start to sing.

**(If I Can't Be With You by R5, I don't own the lyrics of this song. Listen to it if you want)**

_I don't wanna be famous,_

_I don't wanna if I can't be with you_

_Everything I eat's tasteless_

_Everything I see don't compare with you_

_Paris, Monaco and Vegas,_

_I'd rather stay with you_

_If I had to choose_

_Baby you're the greatest,_

_And I got everything to lose,_

_And I just want to be with you_

_And I can't ever get enough!_

_Baby give it all up, up, I'd give it all up,_

_If I can't be with you!_

_All of this stuff sucks, yeah all of this sucks_

_If I can't be with you!_

_And,_

_No Oscar,_

_No Grammy,_

_No mansion in Miami_

_The sun don't shine the sky ain't blue,_

_If I can't be with you!_

As I sing the rest of the song I can feel myself growing less and less unsecure about myself. I just let go and pour my heart and soul into this song. When I'm done I open my eyes and look at the judges. The crowd is clapping and so are the judges. Laura and Eddie are even standing up, which I also think most of the crowd is, even though it's hard to see. I can't help but smile as the clapping slowly dies down. I feel like I'm on Cloud 9!

Laura is the first one to speak up. "Loren Tate that was amazing!" she yells and the crowd starts cheering once again. When it quiets down she speaks again. "I can't believe you're afraid of performing. I couldn't even tell, you looked like you own that stage!"

Jeffrey is the next one to talk. "It was good Loren. A little off here and there, and you seemed very insecure in the beginning, but it was good," he says. Okay that was better that I expected. He is the tough judge after all.

I look at Eddie and his brown eyes shine as they look at me. He almost looks…proud? "Well Loren," he starts, "remind me to thank that best friend of yours for bringing you here," he says and the crowd, once again, starts cheering. Once it dies down I hear someone yelling. It doesn't take me long to realize that it's Mel.

"I'm over here Eddie!" she yells, which makes the crowd and the judges laugh and me blush. Only Mel would do something like that. Only Mel…

"Well, thank you then!" Eddie yells to her, and Mel respond with a `you're welcome´.

"I'm just gonna be the first to say it," Laura says, "I'm saying yes!"

"Me too," Eddie says which makes the crowd go crazy. Everyone then turn to look at Jeffrey. I don't need him to say yes because Laura and Eddie have already said yes, but I would be nice if he said yes too. He looks at me for a second and I almost squirm under his hard gaze. He then exhales.

"I'm saying yes too," he says but continues before the crowd can start cheering again, "but you really have something to prove to me next time, okay Loren?"

I nod, say thank you and then walk off the stage. I literally can't believe this. I don't think that I've understood what actually happened out there yet. The lady whom called my number congratulates me, but I'm too shocked to say anything so I just smile. She points down a hall way with a small exit sign above it. I gather my things and walk toward the exit, while unsuccessfully trying to fight the huge smile off my face.

"I'm so proud of you Lo," Mel chirps, "you got up there, looked your biggest fear right in the eye and you beat it down!"

Where in the car on the way home and Mel is ecstatic. She hasn't once stopped babbling about how proud she is of me. I think she should give herself some credit. Without her I wouldn't have done it.

"Mel I wouldn't even have done it if you hadn't tricked me into going," I say, and she takes her eyes off the road for a moment to look at me, before turning back to the road again.

"So you're not mad at me?" she asks hesitantly.

"At first I was very mad," I tell her and her face falls a little. "But I'm not mad anymore." This time a huge smile lights up her face.

"I love you Lo," she says looking at me.

"I love you too Mel."

"Eyes on the road!" I screech when she's about to drive into a three. She avoids the three and gives me a sheepish smile and we both start laughing.

Way to ruin the moment.

"I'm home!" I yell as I walk through the front door of my house. Almost immediately my mom emerge from the kitchen and gives me a big smile.

"So how did it go?" she asks excitedly. I can't fight the huge smile off my face as I say: "I went on to next round!" I start doing this weird little happy dance, but hey can you blame me?

"Honey that's great," my mom says as she engulfs me in a big bear hug. "What happens next?" she asks me when she finally pulls away.

"Well," I say, "the next auditions are in a week. Then the judges choose whom they want to send home and whom they want on their team. Each judge chooses 7 contestants. Then after that, which is in two weeks, they narrow it down to 3 contestants on each team, and then after that there are live shows."

My mom nods and drags me out in the kitchen. "I'm so proud of you honey. Come sit down. You must be hungry, I'll make you some dinner," she says and I nod because I haven't eaten anything all day.

As my mom prepares the food, I can't help but think about how crazy these next weeks are gonna be. That is if I make it to the next round.

**Soooo what's gonna happen next? Any suggestions? I get summer vacation next week so I'll try update frequently but I don't know how much time to write I'm gonna get. R&R, be happy…**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys!**

**New chapter yayy! Please show your support by voting and commenting. Thanks for reading!**

**THE LESS THE REWIEWS = THE LONGER BETWEEN UPDATES**

Loren's POV:

Nothing exciting happened throughout the week. I think by now the whole school knows about me auditioning on The Talent Search. Heck, the whole Valley knows it. Mel would just randomly walk up to a guy on the street and tell him about me. I even think she told her grandma about me, and she lives in Wisconsin.

It's Friday today so 2. round is tomorrow, and because I've been stressing all week about my song and stuff like that, Mel have convinced me to have a movie night at her house. Well, she didn't really give me a choice it was more like an order. But I really have to get my mind on something else so I welcome the distraction.

I am on my way to Mel's house with a big back of junk food in my hand. I walk up her driveway but instead of nocking I just walk right in. her parents are on vacation in Florida and her brother is God knows where, so we have the house all to ourselves.

"Hey girl!" Mel yells from the living room. "Hey!" I yell when I walk into the living room and see her pushing the couch to the back of the room, so that we can have our sleeping bags on the floor in front of the TV.

"Did you bring the junk food," Mel asks when she sees me. A word of advice: Never get between Mel and her junk food. Never!

I let out a little laugh. "Don't worry Mel, it's right here," I say as hold up the bag for her to see. She runs to the bag, practically hugging the bag as she brings it to the coffee table, emptying the content on it. There is various bags of chips, about five different flavors of ice cream and lots of other fat, sugary stuff.

"I'm in sugar heaven!" Mel yells, dramatically throwing her hands in the air. I burst out laughing and seconds later Mel starts laughing too. I've really missed these movie nights with Mel.

"So, are you nervous about tomorrow," Mel asks. We have been sitting on the floor watching movies, eating junk food and talking for the past few hours.

"I wasn't before you brought it up," I say and Mel gives me a small sheepish smile. "I mean it's not like my stage fright just magically disappeared. It's still the, but I definitely feel better about it than I did last week."

"That's good," Mel says. "Fears doesn't just go away overnight, it takes time. But you're definitely on the right track."

We continue the rest of the night on a lighter note, just having fun like we use to when we were younger. We don't go too late to sleep because I have to get up quite early next morning.

"Mel come on, we have to go or I'll be late!" I yelled from the bottom of the stairs. We had woken up late this morning because of me forgetting to set my phone and Mel being awful slow in the shower.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming," she says as she walks down the stairs, "it takes time to look this good." She's wearing a floral dress with a neon pink belt, neon pink heels and different neon colored accessories. She looked amazing, perfectly true to her own style.

"Well you look amazing, but you're not the one going up on that stage. I am, and because of your fabulous looks I just look stupid now," I say sarcastically. I'm wearing a cream lace crop-top with a white bandeau under it, a pair of washed jeans with a few rips in them and my always trustworthy white low-top converse. I looked okay, nothing compared to Mel though.

"Well you never know who you're going meet," she says wiggling her eyebrows. "You know, you have a boyfriend Mel," I say, even though I know she's only kidding. Mel is completely faithful to Adam; I know she would never cheat on him. The same goes for him. Adam is like a lovestruck puppy. It's cute.

I walk out to the car and get in. There are still a couple of hours until we have to be there, but with the LA traffic it means we were already late.

With Mel driving a good amount over the speed limit, we were able to make it the on time. Barely. There wasn't allowed audience today so Mel had to wait outside. Not that it bothered her much, because it meant that she would have all day to go shopping. But she did make me promise to write as soon as I know if I was making it to 3. round.

As I was running through the door I was met with the same businesslike woman as last time. Her hair was, again, up in a tight bun and her she looked just as tired as last week, if not more. She should really get some vacation.

"Name?"

"Umm, Loren Tate." She still intimidates me.

"Here's your number, go down the hall they're waiting for you," she says handing me my number. I nod and walk down the hall. When I arrive in the waiting room there are a lot of people, but not nearly as many as last week.

I spot Cameron and Chloe in the middle of the room. Cameron smiles and waves at me. Chloe is just eyeing me up and down, giving me a disapproving look. Her intimidating beauty makes me self-conscious.

I'm about to walk towards the empty table in the corner, where I sat last time, when a woman enters my vision. I stumble back a bit before realizing that it's the same woman that called my number last time.

"You're late," she states and starts dragging me down the hall. "You're in group number one, which means you're on now!" She continues to speedwalk down the hall, dragging me along. Jeez, how much coffee did she drink?

She leads me backstage where 3 boys and 2 girls are standing. One of the boys, a boy with gorgeous green eyes, is warming up his voice. The two other boys, whom look like twins with their built bodies and blonde, almost white hair, are wrestling each other. Pfff boys, I think rolling my eyes. One of the girls, with blonde hair that is obviously dyed and her face caked with makeup, is looking in her little pocket mirror, whispering encouraging words to herself. The other girl, whom looks like a country singer, is pacing back and forth with shaking hands.

I didn't even have time to think before she lined us up and ushered us out on stage. Thankfully I was in the back of the line, which means I am the last one to sing and I have a little time to collect myself.

As we walk out on the stage the judges are smiling. I guess that's the perks of being in the first group. I see Eddie looking at me, smiling even wider. I might be crazy but I felt like he was smiling just for me.

The first one to sing was the girl with the fake, blonde hair. She was good, but not great. She was kind of a younger Britney Spears. (P.S don't mean to offend anyone, if you like Britney Spears that's cool)

The rest of the time I practically zooned out. The boy with the green eyes was really good, but besides from him no one were outstanding. The judges turn to me and suddenly everything starts feeling real.

"So Loren…," Jeffrey starts, "are you ready."

I opened my mouth to answer him but I couldn't seem to form a proper sentence. I hear the blonde girl snort mockingly. I look at her and see a smirk playing on her lips. This gives me the confidence that I need. I'm gonna show her

"Yes, I am sir," I say with my head held high.

Jeffrey looks a little taken back by my sudden confidence, but nods for me to start.

**(Back to December by Taylor Swift, I don't own the lyrics of the song. Recommended by Guest, listen to it if you want)**

_I'm so glad you made time to see me._

_How's life? Tell me how's your family?_

_I haven't seen them in a while._

_You've been good, busier than ever,_

_We small talk, work and the weather,_

_Your guard is up and I know why._

_Because the last time you saw me_

_Is still burned in the back of your mind._

_You gave me roses and I left them there to die._

_So this is me swallowing my pride,_

_Standing in front of you saying, "I'm sorry for that night,"_

_And I go back to December all the time._

_It turns out freedom ain't nothing but missing you._

_Wishing I'd realized what I had when you were mine._

_I'd go back to December, turn around and make it all right._

_I go back to December all the time. _

As I finish the song I look at the blonde girl. Her mouth is now open in shock. I fact all the contestants are in a state of shock. The judges are just smiling knowingly at each other. The judges thank us and we all walk off stage. The blonde girl keeps giving me dirty looks but I just ignore her and walks back to the waiting room.

Now all there's left to do I wait. And to be honest I have no idea where I stand.

After waiting most of the day we are finally getting to know who is going on to 3. round and who is going home. I've been pacing back and forth for the last half an hour when our group is called. I walk down the hall with shaking hands, no forget it shaking everything.

As we walk out on the stage I look at the judges to see if their faces give off any clue as to who is going home. They don't.

"Who is going home and who is staying?" Laura says. "That's the big question. The first one who's going on to round 3 is…"

"Jake Adams," Jeffrey says, "you'll be on my team."

I look beside me and see the green eyed boy looking happy and relieved. I guess his name is Jake… it suits him.

"The next one is…," Laura trails off.

…

…

"Loren Tate, you're on my team," Eddie says.

"So which team are you on?" Mel asks immediately after I step into the car. She hasn't once stopped bugging me about which team I'm on, since I told her that I made it to the next round.

"Hi to you too. Yes, I'm great, how are you?" I say sarcastically.

"Shut up and answer me!" Mel almost yells growing impatient.

I can't help but laugh. "Eddie's…," I say trailing off. "No way!" Mel screech.

"I guess I'm just lucky…"

"Hun, that's not luck," Mel says, "that's faith."

**So what do you think is gonna happen? I don't know… just kidding I do haha! R&R, eat, sleep… **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys!**

**One of you asked if this show is like X-Factor: **

**I'm trying not to make it too much like X-Factor but it's kind of hard. That is also why I decided to make the show for both singers and dancers…**

**I hope that helped!**

**THE LESS REWIEW=THE LONGER BETWWEN UPDATES**

Loren's POV:

"Oh honey I'm gonna miss you so much," mom says as she wraps me in a bear hug. Today was the day that I was going to the boot camp with the other seven contestants on Eddie's team. Tomorrow I am going to know if I am going to the live shows or if I'm going home.

Mom has been complaining all week about how she is going to get lonely and how she doesn't want to let me go, even if it's only for a weekend. I mean I'm gonna miss her too, but it's only for a couple of days. She'll survive.

"Mom I'm gonna be late if you don't let me go now," I say wiggling out of her embrace. I received a letter with instructions on where to go. I have no idea where it is I'm going I just know that it's quite a long drive so if I don't drive now I'm not gonna get there before 6:00 pm.

My mom lets out a quiet sigh. "Just be careful okay." I can't help but give laugh a little. Stupid motherly protectiveness. "Seriously mom, I'm gonna be fine. What could happen in two days?"

When she finally lets me go I grab my things and with a final hug goodbye, I walk to my car.

Eddie's POV:

I stood in the door of the huge mansion watching the contestants arrive. I actually never agreed to do this stupid judge-thing, but my manager Jake set it up without me knowing until last minute. As the clock neared 6:00 pm almost all the contestants had arrived. The only one missing is the famous Loren Tate. At least she's famous in my world after what happened at her first audition. I don't know why I ran after her, but I'm glad I did. There's just something about her… I don't know.

"Mr. Duran?" Some man I've never seen before comes out. He has a headset on and a phone in his hand. He must be someone working one the show. "This is for you," he says handing me the phone. I give him a questioning look but he just walks away.

"Hello," I say into the phone, while still looking at the driveway, wondering when Loren was gonna show up.

"Eddie?"

I furrow my eyebrows and turn away from the driveway giving the phone my full attention.

"Loren? Why are you calling me, where are you?" the questions just kept coming not even giving her time to answer. I stop when I hear her giggling on the other end, knowing I've been rambling. "I'm fine, just my stupid car that broke down. The car service won't be here until a couple of hours so I just thought that I'd let you know that I won't be there until later tonight."

"How did you even get this number?"

"It was in the letter I received with information."

I guess that made sense. "How far away are you?" I ask. "About half an hour maybe 45 minutes. Why?" she ask confusedly. Is it wrong if I find her kind of cute when she's confused? I can imagine a little wrinkle appearing on her forehead.

"Because I'm coming to get you," I say. "W-what, why?" She sounds surprised. "Y-you really don't h-have to." Here it goes again with the stuttering. What can I say? She's cute.

"Loren you're gonna get here faster if I pick you up. Besides it's not like I have anything important to do." That was only part true. I have a lot of things to do, and Jake would probably kill me if he ever found out, but going out to pick up Loren is far more interesting than any other thing I've done all week. Wow, I've had a boring week. "Now tell me where you are so I can pick you up."

Loren tells me where she is and I walk down the huge stairs, in front of the mansion, towards my car.

"Eddie, Ed- Eduardo! Where are you going?"

I sigh. Of course Jake is going ruin it all. Why couldn't he just find out from someone else and then yell at when I came back. I swear he's acting more like my dad than… my dad.

"Just going on a drive, don't worry I'll be back in a couple of hours tops," I say, not even giving him time to answer before going into my car and driving away.

Loren's POV:

Stupid, stupid, stupid car! Why do you have to break down right now? Why not next week, why right now? I'm standing on the side of the road leaning against my stupid car. I never expected Eddie to come pick me up. The phone call was simply meant to tell him that I wouldn't make it on time. But I'm not gonna pretend him taking the time to come pick me up doesn't make me feel giddy inside, cause it does. And I have no idea why.

I've been waiting for about 40 minutes and it's starting to get dark outside. I'm lying on top of my car waiting for Eddie to arrive. I see light coming from down the road and sit up hoping that it's him. My hope turns into sadness when the car drives right past me. I sigh, lie back down on top of my car and close my eyes.

I hear a car in the distance but I don't move until I hear it coming to a halt. I sit up and open my eyes only to be blinded by the front lights of the car. The lights turn off and my eyes once again adjust to the darkness. I hear someone, whom I'm guessing is Eddie, getting out of the car.

"So, are you coming or are you gonna sit up there all night?" Eddie asks. I can't see him clearly because of the dark, but what I can see is the amused smile playing on his lips. I chuckle and get off the roof of my car. "Well, I didn't plan on staying up there all night, but it was quite comfy," I say with a small smile which he returns. The lack of light causes his features to look more marked and sharp. He looks darker and more mysterious. He has always had that bad boy charm, even though he's actually a sweetheart, but now it's even more visible.

"So are you ready to get out of here?" Eddie asks. I just need a moment to snap out of it before I answer him, and by the looks of it he seems to have noticed.

"Y-yeah, just have to get my bags," I say, walking to the back of my car and take out the two small bags that contains my clothes, makeup etc. I hate the thought of leaving my car here on the side of the road, but I know that the car service is going to come pick it up soon and take it to the repair shop to fix it.

I put my bags in the back of his car and get in. As soon as I'm wearing my seat belt we take off in the opposite direction of the way he came, towards the boot camp.

"So miss. Tate what is your story?" Eddie says, quickly looking at me before, once again, returning his attention on the road. "My story?" He nods. "Well, my car broke down…"

He starts laughing and I give him a questioning look. When he finally calms down he says: "Not that story, I meant your life."

"Oh," I say finally getting it, "my life is quite ordinary, nothing crazy. I grew up in the Valley; it was just me and my mom. My dad left when I was 4, and even though it was rough on my mom, she has always managed to be there for me. She's the best mom you could ever wish for. My best friends name is Mel, she's very bubbly and outgoing, the complete difference of me, but she's the best. Without her I wouldn't even be here right now."

I look at Eddie and see that he's looking back and forth between the road and me. "So now I've heard about your dad, your mom and your best friend. But what about you?" he asks.

"Me?" I ask. "Why do you wanna know about me?"

"Well, you are my contestant."

"If you must know I'm quiet and shy and I have the worst stage fright ever. I honestly don't know how I ever got through those two performances without puking." I let out a small laugh. "How did you get interested in music?" Eddie asks. "I don't know," I answer honestly. "I just like it I guess. I feel like when I sing I can just be myself, you know?"

I look at him and see him nodding. "I know exactly what you mean," he says.

We drive in silence. Not an awkward silence but a nice one. It doesn't feel like we need to talk. It's nice.

After about five minutes the car starts to slow down. I turn to Eddie but he looks just as confused as me. The car lets out a couple of weird sounds before stopping completely. Eddie tries to start it again but it doesn't budge.

"Seriously what's with the cars today?" he says angrily. He sighs and leans back in his seat. I do the same.

I'm looking out the window but there's not much to see. It's mostly dark outside, but in the distance you can see a faint light. There's also a big sign. I lean forward in my seat and squeeze my eyes together to get a better look.

"Hey Eddie," I say, "doesn't that sign say motel?" Eddie give me a questioning look and leans forward squeezing his eyes just like me. "It is," he says, "maybe we can sleep there tonight and then call a cap in the morning." I agree and we get out of the car. I take one of my bags and Eddie, being a gentleman, takes the other. When we get to the front of the motel I remember something. "Eddie I don't have any money," I say sad that we have to turn around and sleep in the car. "It's okay I have plenty," he says with a smirk. "Fine but I owe you," I say with a small sigh.

When we get inside Eddie goes to the front desk, while I sit down in one of the brown couches. There's not much to look at in the reception. The walls are white, there's a few pictures hanging on them, a couple of brown couches with a coffee table between them and then of course the front desk. The lady behind it looks quite old and tired with bags under her eyes.

Eddie finally returns with a key in his hand. "They only had one room," he says, "so we have to share. I hope that's fine." I nod and we walk towards the elevator. We get out of the elevator when we get to 2. Floor and go down the hall to number 21.

The room looks pretty much like the reception but instead of couches there's a bed. Yes a bed. As in one.

"I can sleep on the floor if…" Eddie starts but I cut him off. "Eddie its fine, I'm sure there's plenty of room for both of us," I say, but I'm not actually sure because that bed looks kind of small.

I'm in the bathroom brushing my teeth, getting ready for the night. I should be nervous about spending the night with Eddie Duran the rockstar. But I'm not. Because he isn't Eddie Duran to me anymore. He's just Eddie.

When I walk out of the bathroom I see Eddie talking on his phone.

"Yes Jake. Yes, we'll be home first thing in the morning. Okay bye."

He hangs up and turns around on the bed seeing me. "Oh hey, I just called my manager to tell him that we won't be here until the morning. I also called the car service and they're gonna pick my car up while they pick up yours."

"Okay," I say, "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Me too, it's been a long day.

We both lie down in bed as far away from each other as we can get. Eddie reaches over and turns off the lights and as soon as they're off, I'm out.

**IMPORTANT READ THIS: I've been having quite a hard time writing new chapters and I'm going to Italy on Friday so I'll not be able to upload the next 2-3 weeks. I'm really sorry but I hope you understand and will continue supporting this story. I will upload as soon as possible. Until then can I get lots of reviews on this chapter…? **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys!**

**I know it's been a little while but I came back from Italy very early yesterday and I've spent all day yesterday and today writing. I would have updated yesterday but I accidently fell asleep.**

**I had a great trip besides from accidently hitting (and killing) a firefly with my bat while playing badminton with my younger brother and feel so bad about it. I mean what if it had a family!? Lol, I'm being weird I know, but I'm dead serious.**

**THE LESS REVIEWS = THE LONGER BETWWEN UPDATES**

**Anyways here's the chapter!**

**~Anna**

Loren's POV:

I can't remember a time in my life where I've ever been so comfortable. I seriously don't want to move even an inch. I slowly open my eyes, expecting light to blind me, but it doesn't so it must be pretty early. I look down and see a heavy, muscular arm wrapped around my waist. I panic for a moment until the events of last night enter my mind. Eddie is behind me and I can feel his hot breath on the back of my neck. I can't help but chuckle and wiggle a little in his embrace. I can't help it I'm ticklish. Eddie seems to notice, or at least his body does, and he pulls me even closer snuggling his head into my neck.

"Eddie," I whisper, on one side trying to wake him up, but on the other not wanting to ruin the moment.

"Mmm." He starts moving and I can tell he's begging to wake up. He slowly open his eyes brown eyes meet mine equally brown ones. He seems lost for a moment, I know I am, but then it's like something snaps inside of him, and he almost flies to the other side of the bed, far away from me. I would lie if I said it didn't hurt a bit.

"It's already 6:30 am, we should get going," he says looking at his phone. His voice is lower than normal because of sleep, his hair was messed on one side and almost flat on the other side, indicating the side he slept on, and his eyes were lazily wondering around the room before landing on me. At least he's wearing a shirt otherwise I think I would have passed out.

I nod, get up and walk towards the bathroom. God I hope things don't get awkward after this.

I was just finishing packing all my stuff when Eddie emerges from the bathroom. His hair is perfectly styled in a messy look and he was wearing simple jeans and a black V-neck shirt.

"Hey Lo, you ready to go?" Lo? He has never called me Lo before. For some reason it makes me feel giddy inside.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready." He stops packing his things and turn around to look at me. He looks kind of… troubled. "What?" I ask him with a small smile, urging him to tell me. He sighs and scratches the back of his neck. "About this morning… I would appreciate if you didn't tell anyone. It's just so that the paparazzi's doesn't find out and make a huge deal out of it, I hope you understand," he says without looking me in the eyes. I wasn't going to tell anyone, and I understand why he doesn't want me to, but I can't help but feel just a little hurt. I don't know why though.

"It's fine, I wasn't going to anyway," I say. He lets out a shaky breath nodding his head slowly. "You're pretty cool Loren Tate. Pretty cool," he says dragging out the last sentence a little. "Come on, we better head out before my manager kills me. On second thought he's probably gonna kill me anyway."

The house, no wait mansion, was huge. Not just huge, like double huge. Do they really need such a big mansion to only seven contestants?

"Come on," Eddie says walking up the stairs in front of the mansion, "your room is upstairs your name is on the door. When you're done there's breakfast in the dining room. It's just down the hall." He points down a wide hallway. I mutter a quiet 'thank you' before he disappears. I drag my bags up the stairs, slowly. When I come to the top I look to both left and right, unsure of which way to go. I finally decide to go right.

The hall is pretty quiet; actually the whole house is quiet. Come to think of I haven't seen anyone since I stepped a foot in this mansion. I'm just about to give up when I don't see my name on any of these doors, when I finally see a person walking towards me. He's skin is dark, he's hair I short and black and he look's tired. He pauses for a second when I sees me and then quickens his pace walking directly towards me.

"You're Loren Tate right," he says when he's finally in earshot. "Umm, yeah who are you." It's a little strange that he knows my name, but I've never seen him before. "My name is Jake Madsen I'm Eddie's manager."

"Oh," I say but it actually just makes me sound dumb. "Nice to meet you. Hey, do you know where my room is, I can't find it?"

"It's down the hall, last door and the right side." I thank him, but just as I'm about to walk away he grips my arm, making me look at him. "Look I don't know you, but I'm not happy about you. Eddie needs to concentrate on his career and he can't do that with you around him. I don't know what you want from him, if it's money or fame, but you need to leave him alone." And with that said he walks away, leaving me stunned.

"Hey Mel, what's up?" I speak into my phone. After the somewhat scary encounter with Jake, Eddie's manager, I managed to find my room, all the way at the bottom of the hall. It was quite a big room with cream colored walls and a huge soft bed with red bedding, and I also had my own bathroom. Everything here was just so extravagant. I was hanging my clothes in the big closet when Mel had called me.

"What's up? What's up! I'm gonna tell you what's up. Why are you and Eddie all over the internet?" she asked, quite loud may I add. That's when what she said hit me.

"We are what? Mel what are you talking about?"

There are pictures all over the internet where you and Eddie are leaving some sloppy motel," she says. "Loren Tate you better start explaining right now!"

I sighed and explained everything to her, starting with my car broke down and finishing with this phone conversation we were having right now.

"Hey Mel, can you send me the link to that article about me and Eddie?" I ask.

"Sure thing. Hey I gotta go but god luck alright. Break a leg," she says before quickly adding, "not literally, but you know what I mean."

I chuckle and we say our goodbyes. Not even a minute later I get a text from her. It's the link I was asking for. I hesitantly click on it, not even sure if I wanna read it.

When I open it the first thing I'm met with are a picture of Eddie and I leaving to motel. This is quite creepy, I wasn't even aware that someone was taking pictures of us. I wonder if Eddie feels like this all the time. The picture wasn't romantic or anything, we weren't even holding hands or anything; we were just walking beside each other. Nothing else. It's impossible to get anything romantic out of that picture I think, but oh boy how was I wrong.

_Major pop star Eddie Duran was early this morning seen leaving a motel with a girl. No one knows exactly who the girl is, but anonymous sources tell us that she may be one of the contestants on the popular TV-show The Talent Search, where Eddie Duran is a judge this year. Eddie Duran is rarely seen with girls and hasn't been dating since his mom, Katy Duran part of the famous duo MK, died 2 years ago. Who is the brunette beauty that maybe finally has captured the young pop star's heart? _

What the heck?!

I am waiting outside a huge door made out of dark wood with the other 6 contestants on Eddie's team, minus the girl who was inside right now. I didn't know any of the other contestants but most of us was going home tomorrow anyway so I wasn't about to be overly social with them.

I haven't had the chance to talk to Eddie since this morning and tell him about the article. I don't know if he already knows, but by the dirty looks I receive from some of the contestants in the room I assume that they know. They probably think that I'm having sex with him and that's why I'm here, not because I can actually sing. Eddie doesn't even like me.

"Loren Tate you're next," a man in his mid-twenties say to me from the big wooden door. He's wearing a headset like almost everyone else whom works on the show, except the ones in the kitchen and the ones who clean. I thought a girl was in there but as I look around I seen her talking with another girl in the other end of the room. She must have gotten out without me noticing.

"Come on, we don't have all day," the man from the door says impatiently tapping his foot on the floor. I get up and the man holds the door open for me as I take a deep breath preparing for what's to come.

As I walk into the room I see Eddie and his manager Jake sitting at a table. Eddie smiles as he sees me but Jake just scowls at me.

"Hey Loren, how are you?" Eddie asks. It's probably just a routine question, but for some reason it makes me feel giddy inside like he actually wants to know how I'm feeling.

"I'm good thanks, how are you," I ask. "I'm good thanks. This is my manager Jake Madsen, he's helping me today because he has great judgment," Eddie says gesturing to Jake. My stomach drops when Eddie says that he has great judgment, because he has already made it quite clear that he doesn't like me.

"We already met," Jake says with a monotone voice, like he's bored out of his mind, "now could you please start we don't have all day." I'm taken aback by his hostility towards me but quickly recover.

"Can I use the piano?" I ask gesturing with one hand to the piano behind me. Eddie nods a silent yes. I sit down in front of the piano and take a deep breath before starting.

**(Skyscraper by Demi Lovato. I do not own the lyrics; listen to it if you want to)**

_Skies are crying, I am watching_

_Catching tear drops in my hands_

_Only silence as it's ending_

_Like we never had a chance_

_Do you have to make me feel like_

_There's nothing left of me?_

_You can take everything I have_

_You can break everything I am_

_Like I'm made of glass_

_Like I'm made of paper_

_Go on and try to tear me down_

_I will be rising from the ground_

_Like a skyscraper_

_Like a skyscraper_

As I finish the song I have a good feeling in my stomach. I didn't mess up any lyrics or anything and I really did the best I could. Looking at their faces Eddie seems happy and maybe, but I can be wrong, proud. As I turn to Jake his face is unreadable. I don't know what to think…

"Loren Tate," the man with the headset says from the door. He sighs when I frown at him, but I mean I've already been in the once.

"They want to see you again, now chop chop I don't have all day," he says both looking and sounding annoyed. I look around the room and see all the other contestants looking just as confused as me, but most of them also look relieved. I guess they're happy that they aren't me right now.

I slowly get up, much to the man's irritation, but walk a little faster when he shoots me a look. When I get inside I see Eddie sitting at the table but Jake is nowhere to be seen. I don't think Eddie has seen me so I clear my throat. He turns around and smiles big when he sees me. I try to return the smile but it comes off more nervous.

"Don't worry," he says obviously noticing my smile, "there's nothing wrong. It's just that Jake is not quite… convinced, if that makes any sense?"

"It doesn't"

"What I'm saying is-"

"Oh, hey Loren." Eddie is cut short when Jake comes into the room. He sits behind beside Eddie and smiles arrogant at me. I've never seen him this high up his horse before, granted I've only known him for one day but still. He seems like a pretty laidback person. It's almost as if he's sure that I'm gonna fail or something, and it kind of scares me to be honest.

"Listen Loren it's very simple. You have a great voice but you're only comfortable singing slow songs. So now I want to hear you sing something different," Jake says. "Do you know Voodoo Doll by 5 seconds of summer?"

I nod. I know that song inside out.

"Good, then sing," Jake says leaving no room for discussion.

**(Voodoo Doll by 5 seconds of summer. I do not own the lyrics; listen to it if you want)**

_I don't even like you,_

_Why'd you want to go and make me feel this way?_

_And I don't understand what's happened,_

_I keep saying things I never say._

_I can feel you watching even when you're nowhere to be seen,_

_I can feel you touching even when you're far away from me._

_Tell me where you're hiding your voodoo doll 'cause I can't control myself,_

_I don't wanna stay, wanna run away but I'm trapped under your spell._

_And it hurts in my head and my heart and my chest,_

_And I'm having trouble catching my breath. _

I think I did okay. Even though I love this song and I know it so well, I just feel more comfortable singing the slower songs. Eddie looks impressed, but Jake's face is, again, unreadable. I still don't have any idea of what to think…

**Okay so not the best chapter I know, but I promise next chapter are gonna be filled with a lot of Leddie.**

**Thoughts?**

**Please R&R! all the great reviews means a lot, please keep them coming. **


	7. Chapter 7

**THE LESS REVIEWS = THE LONGER BETWEEN UPDATES**

Loren's POV:

I've been a nervous wreck all night. Literally. I mean Eddie looked impressed, that's a good thing right? But I still haven't found out what Jake's expression means. I could mean that he likes me and just doesn't want to admit it, but it could also mean that he hated it and just didn't want to hurt my feelings. Although the part about not wanting to hurt my feelings seems kind of unreal considering that he doesn't like me very much. He made that part very clear.

After forcing down some dinner, which was delicious but I was just too nervous to eat anything, the rest of the contestants went off to do different things but I just decided to go to bed. I didn't really want to talk to Mel or my mom, or anyone for that matter, and I wasn't in the mood to be social. So I just went to bed, which was a bad idea considering that it's now 2 am and I've been staring at the sealing for the past I don't know how many hours. And not even this super comfy bed could do anything about it. I finally had enough and decided to go down stairs and make myself a cup of tea.

I slowly made my way down stairs careful not to fall down and wake the others, and you know break an arm or something. When I entered the kitchen I flickered on the lights and jumped back with my hand over my heart, trying to prevent myself from having a heart attack, when I saw someone sitting in the high chairs by the counter.

"Oh gosh, Eddie you scared me! What are you doing up at this time at night?" It was impossible to keep the surprise out of my voice, but can you blame me? I nearly had a heart attack!

"I couldn't sleep," he said gesturing to the cup of steaming coffee in front of him. "But I can leave if-"

"No!" I almost yell. Wait that was way (dragging out the word) too fast. "No it's okay," I say lower and slower this time. "I don't mind having some company." I really hope that sounded cool.

Eddie let out a quiet laugh "Well I'm glad to know that you don't mind me." I feel my mouth part slightly and heat rush to my face. "Oh n-no, it-it wasn't m-meant like that, it w-was just t-that-" My pathetic rambling is cut off by a loud booming laughter from Eddie. My blush deepens but I can't help but laugh a little myself. What can I say, his laughter is contagious.

"I'm just messing with you Lo," he says when his laughter finally calms down. "But I must say that the look on your face made it all worth it."

Lo? He has never called me Lo before, only my close friends and family calls me that. I don't think he realizes his slip-up so I'm just gonna ignore it. But what I can't ignore is the warm, fuzzy feeling inside when he called me Lo.

I walk around the counter to make my tea. None of us says anything when I sit down with a steaming hot mug of my favorite tea, but the silence was a nice silence. It wasn't awkward or anything.

"So what are you doing down here?" Eddie asks breaking the silence.

"I couldn't sleep," I say quietly. "What about you?"

"Same. I had a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" I feel my eyes widen. "I'm sorry that was rude I shouldn't-"

"Lo, calm down it's fine," he says with a slight smile. I can immediately feel the blush creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks, giving them a red glow so it looks like I've been out in the cold for hours. "There's a couple of things," he says with a sigh, his eyes meeting mine for a second, before looking down in what's left of his coffee, "but it's mostly the fact that the anniversary for my mom's death is in a couple of days."

"Oh Eddie I'm really sorry, it must be hard," I say. It feels like such a cliché thing to say but I don't know what else is appropriate to say in these kinds of situations. Eddie just continues to stare down his coffee like it did something wrong and his pissed at it.

"Look Eddie, I know that I didn't know her personally, but I bet she was an amazing person," I say, both because it's true and because I think it might cheer him up a bit.

"Oh she was amazing. Still is. The best mom in the world, no offence I'm sure your mother is great too," he says making me laugh. "It's actually a shame that you didn't get to meet her, she would have liked you. And anyways, it's not all bad. My dad and I are always spending the day of her death together, which happens too rarely."

"What do you do together?"

"Drinking mostly," he says, one side of his lip slipping up into a faint smirk. "I don't think either one of us has completely understood that she's gone. I keep feeling like she's gonna walk right through the door and begin to scold about being a gentleman or whatever. But it's two years since the accident and I think it's slowly starting to sink in that she's never coming back."

"Oh Eddie," I say. I wanna give him a hug but I'm not really sure if it's okay to hug your judge/mentor so I just settle for rubbing his back. We sit like that for a few minutes, none of us saying anything, when I decide that we need a subject change.

"So have you seen the articles?"

"Oh yeah, the articles about me and the mystery brunette beauty," he says wiggling his eyebrows at me.

"Yeah it's pretty lame huh?" I say embarrassed.

"No not at all. I, personally, think that they're quite right," Eddie says, focusing his warm brown eyes on me. I can't remember a time where I've blushed as much as I've done tonight. I swear he has made it his life mission to make me blush or something. I must look like a fire truck right now because Eddie's lips slowly stretch out in a full blown smile.

"Your blush is so adorable," he has before suddenly turning serious, "but I wasn't kidding." I feel my blush deepen, if that's even possible, and I have to bite my lip not to smile. I mean the hot superstar Eddie Duran has just complemented me, that's enough to make every girl feel giddy. But strangely enough that's not the only reason I'm giddy. It felt like he complimented me as more than just a stranger, but as a… what? Friend? Was that was he was he just being friendly. I mean he was my mentor after all. It's probably in his job description or something.

I'm probably just a little weird after yesterday. I mean I was lying in the same bed as him just about 24 hours ago for God's sake! Yeah it's gotta be that.

I sat down finishing the rest of my tea. Eddie already finished his coffee about 5 minutes ago but had not yet made an effort to leave, which of course made me happy. Sighing I place my now empty cup in the sink. I could already feel my eyes trying to close, begging me to fall asleep right here on the kitchen floor.

"You look tired, you should go to bed," Eddie says. "Yeah it's probably a good idea," I say leaning on the kitchen table with Eddie leaning on the table opposite of me. "You should get some sleep too, you look tired." And he really did. He had heavy bags under his eyes and his hair was tousled like he had spent hours turning in his bed.

"I will, I'll just wash up our cups first." I nod and start making my way towards the door. "Hey Loren," Eddie says grabbing my wrist as I walk past him. He turns me around and the first thing I notice is how close we are. His beautiful, dark brown eyes are staring down in my own chocolate ones, and our noses are almost touching. I just have to turn my head a little bit and our mouths would be pressing against each other's.

"Yeah?" I say breathlessly.

"Thank you," he says, staring into my eyes for a moment longer before letting go of my wrist.

I stumble towards the door, almost nocking a few things over in the process, hearings Eddie's soft laughter behind me. I have a feeling that if I really would, I could fly right now.

**So what do you think? A cute little Leddie chapter. I just have a few thing to say so please read:**

**1) I'm going to my grandmom's and granddad's for a few days so I expect a lot of great reviews when I get home. You know they always make me smile**

**2) I need themes for the upcoming live-shows and possible songs to go with them. I promise you get a shout out if I pick your theme idea or song idea**

**3) You know that I have Twitter and Instagram right. You could contact me on either Twitter (annaoesterskov) or Instagram (annagammelgaard) and we could get to know each other better. It could be so much fun!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys!**

**Please read the note at the bottom it's important regarding updates.**

**Enyoy!**

**~Anna**

Eddie's POV:

There's one thing right now that annoys me to death. You wanna know what that is?

Jake.

I don't why he's suddenly acting like this. In my five years of knowing him I've never seen him act like that towards anyone. And the fact that it's Loren just makes it even worse.

Ah Loren. There's just something about her that makes me wanna… smile all the time. I don't know it's kind of weird. I just have so much on my plate right now and, sadly, Loren isn't first priority. Even though I want her to be. Maybe… I don't know.

"Good morning Eddie, how did you sleep," Jake says coming into the meeting room. Truth to be told I slept awful. It's about 7 in the morning, and I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night, but Jake thought that it would be a good idea to wake up early and figure out who my 3 final contestants are gonna be.

"I slept okay," I lie, "what about you?"

"Like a baby," Jake says with a small smile. He must be in a good mood. There are different sides of Jake I've discovered. There's the happy-go-lucky Jake, whom is more like a father than a manager. Then there is extremely focused manager Jake who works all the time, which is the one he is most of the time. And then I discovered a new Jake yesterday. One where he almost acts like a bad boy in high school. I don't have a name for that Jake yet, but I don't like him. He is happy-go-lucky Jake right now but I know all that can change with a blink of an eye.

"So let's get started, shall we?" Jake says laying out seven cards on the table. On each card there were a picture and the name of each of the contestants. The first one catching my eye is the picture of Loren. It's taken during one of her performances, and she had her eyes closed and a big smile on her lips, totally lost in the music. She was beautiful, no doubt about that.

"Okay let's start with the ones we don't like," he says. Nodding I pick up a card with a blonde girl on it. "Cassidy is okay," I say with a shrug, "but I don't believe that she can make it very far. She's you average pop-diva and people want something different."

"Agree," Jake says and I turn the card around. She's officially out. "And Loren Tate is just not-"Jake starts but I cut him off. "Whoa whoa, hold on a minute. You wanna kick Loren Tate out? I ask, and I can't help but raise my voice slightly. He's gotta be kidding me!

"She doesn't have a strong voice and you know it," Jake says keeping his voice surprisingly calm. He must have had a very good sleep because he normally has a very short temper.

"She's shy, and that's something we can work on. You heard her sing yesterday, you know she can sing more than just slow songs," I say getting angrier for every second passing.

"She's a distraction," Jake says still calm, but he's not happy Jake anymore. Now he's manager Jake.

"How is she a distraction?" I angrily ask throwing my hands up in the air. I normally don't get mad about something like this, but I have this urge to protect Loren.

"Have you already forgotten about Friday night?"

"How is it her fault that her car broke down?"

"It's not, but you should have stayed here and let one of the employees handle it instead of running around, playing some kind of hero," Jake says finally raising his voice, which is good because Jake is more scary when he's calm than when he's yelling at someone. Thank God there isn't anyone filming this. The camera-crew wouldn't be here later, where we would act like we were making the decision for the cameras, when we've actually already made the decision.

I open my mouth to come back with some smart reply but I close my mouth when I realize that that's might actually what I've been doing. I picked her up hoping she would be grateful, which she was, and… what? Shower me with kisses? I don't know. But I can't deny that Loren and I had some kind of connection yesterday. I mean I told her about my mom. The only one I want to talk about my mom with is my dad. And now Loren I guess. I don't know why I told her, but it was nice talking to someone about it.

Jake raises his eyebrows obviously expecting a smart comeback from me but I surprise him with saying something else. "I'm sorry I should have let you handle it. But to my defense, I didn't know my car was gonna break down too."

"No, but what is your fault is that you should have called me when your car broke down so that I could come pick you up, instead of going to that motel. If you hadn't discovered that motel I bet you would have come to your senses, and called me eventually. But you saw the motel as a possibility to spend more time with her," Jake says. At first it seems absolutely crazy, but then I realize that maybe it's true. Maybe I wanted to spend time with her and I just didn't realize it.

"Okay I admit that maybe it's the case, but Jake-" I say meeting his eyes, "this is my team, so that means that I pick the contestants, okay?"

"Fair enough," Jake sighs, "just promise me to think about it. It's bad, both for you and the show, if people think that she's only here because you like her. Even if that's the case."

"It's not, believe me. She's here because she's talented," I say. After a moment I add, "But if that's what people think then we better get them to change their minds."

I knew I was gonna have to do something very difficult. I was gonna have to stay away from Loren.

At least in public that is.

Loren's POV:

I was one big jittery mess. My hands, no my whole body was shaking, and I was pacing back and forth outside the big wooden door. It was weird to think about that about 3 weeks ago I didn't even want to audition, and now I'm nervous that I'm about to go home. I don't know what has changed, but I don't wanna go home.

"Loren Tate, it's you now," the headset guy says. He doesn't even look up from his clipboard he just points to the door with a pen. I take a shaky breath and clamp my hands together to prevent them from shaking. That of course doesn't help the rest of my body from shaking.

When I get inside I see a very royal looking couch. It was a dark red with golden legs and a golden pattern. Everything here was just so royal-ish.

But even though it was pretty, it wasn't the couch that drew my attention. It was the person sitting in it. His hair was styled in that perfect messy look, and his black t-shirt and dark skinny jeans looked amazing on his muscular body.

He stands up to greet me, giving my hand a short shake. It's weird to see him look so professional when I've seen him look un-professional. It's like his a different person.

"Hey Loren how are you?" he asks when we sit down, me on one end of the couch him on the other. "I'm actually quite nervous," I say fiddling with my hands in my lap. I take a moment to look at his face. His brown eyes are warm and his lips are stretched in a small smile. That's a good sign right?

"There's no reason to be nervous," he says.

"Really?"

"No, it was quite an easy decision," he says. There's a small dramatic pause before he continues, "especially considering the fact that you were… horrible!"

In a blink of an eye the warm in his eyes turned cold and his smile turned into a frown. To say I was taken aback was the understatement of the year. Did he really mean that?

"It was the worst performance I've seen all year!" he went on. "I mean did you really think that someone as pathetic as you could actually have a shot in a competition like this? You must be delusional! You don't have an ounce of talent in that ugly body of yours-"

I woke up with a jolt.

**So… wow I didn't even see that one coming and I'm the one writing this story. Did anyone see a little resemblance with my last story? And don't worry there's gonna be lots of Leddie moments in the future.**

**IMPORTANT REGARDING UPDATES:**

**School is starting on Monday and I'm going to school from 8 am to 3:15 pm every day, and on top of that in have homework and soccer, so I don't know how much time I'm gonna have to write. I'm gonna try to update at least once every two weeks, but I'm not gonna promise anything. Please continue to support this story, it means a lot to me.**

**I'm almost at 100 reviews! Yay this is so great! I was hoping that maybe I could get 100 reviews on 10 chapters when I started, but now I might get it on 8 chapters! **

**Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Rydel Lynch from R5! She's turning 21 today! In 2 days it's actually 6 months since I met R5, time goes so fast.**


	9. Chapter 9

Loren's POV:

"Oh my God I can't believe it! You actually made it, I'm so proud of you Loren!" Mel screeches, jumping around like a mad man. Or woman, I guess.

It was Sunday afternoon and I was finally home again. I barely made it inside the door before Mel tackled me, and started asking questions. She wanted to know everything, in detail. How she even got inside was a mystery to me, seeing as my mom wasn't home.

After my dream last night I didn't think that I would go on to the live shows. What shook me the most about the dream wasn't that I didn't make it. It was all the awful things he said about me. It hurt me really bad, even though it was just a dream. I was so nervous when I was called in this morning. I really thought Eddie was gonna kick me off.

Now there are 3 contestants left on Eddie's team. The first one is Chris. He is a rapper, and even though I'm not one for rap music, I must admit that he's good. He doesn't swear a lot like many other rappers, and I definitely think that he can make it far. Not only in the competition, but also after.

The second contestant is a girl named Becca. Well, really it's Rebecca, but everyone calls her Becca. She's a really sweet and quiet girl from Ohio, or something like that. She can sing many styles of music and is insanely talented.

And then there's me. Little, ordinary, boring Loren Tate from the Valley. I honestly still cannot believe that I've made it. It probably becomes real to me later tonight when I'm in the shower or lies in my bed. Those are the best places to think after all, right?

"Thank you so much for believing in me Mel, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you," I tell her wrapping her in a big bear hug. "You're the best friend a girl could wish for."

"Aww, I totally feel the same way about you," Mel says pulling away from the hug. "Remember to thank me when you'll win all those awards in future. Oh, and to the wedding when you and Eddie-"

"Okay, that's never going happen Mel, and you know that," I cut her off. She needs to stop daydreaming, it isn't healthy. It makes me daydream too.

"You know what, this call for a celebration. I'll call Adam and tell him to meet us at the café," Mel says. "Wait, do you know where my mom is," I ask as she drags me out the door.

"No idea. Leave her a note or something, come on!"

If there's one thing you must know about Mel is that she's very impatient.

"Mel, I can't leave her a note if you're dragging me out the door," I try to reason with her, but it's already too late, cause we are about half way out the door right now.

"Well, that sucks huh?"

"Hey Lo," Adam says, sitting down in the seat beside Mel. "Mel told me the great news. Congratulations!" Of course Mel told him. She couldn't keep her mouth shut for a second if there was gossip, but if it was a secret she would take it with her to the grave.

"Thanks Adam."

"So what's going to happen next?" he asks.

"Well, the live shows don't start until in about 3 weeks or so," I say, "but all the contestants are going to move into the contestants' house in a week."

"The contestants' house?" Mel asks.

"Yeah, it's a big house where all the contestants live, until they get kicked out of the competition," I say. "What about school?" Adam asks. Hmm, I actually haven't thought about that. "I don't know," I say, "I'll have to ask my teachers, but can't they just e-mail me my homework or something?"

"I don't know, I guess," Mel says. After a few seconds she sits up straight with a huge smile on her face and begins bouncing in her seat. "Omg, I've had a great idea," she says, and I have to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Mel's 'great ideas' aren't always that good. Or legal.

"When you get famous you can meet Ryan Gosling, and then you can introduce us, and then we can date, and the get married and live on the beach with 3 kids and bulldog," she says without even taking a breath between her words. I can't help but start laughing, while Adam puts his hand on his heart faking hurt.

"And what am I then, mashed potato?" he asks.

"You know that I love mashed potato," Mel says kissing his cheek, while Adam's face light up like a kid's on Christmas morning. I mentally 'awww' in my head. I want a relationship like theirs. Immediately an image of Eddie pops up in my head, but it's gone just as quickly as it came.

"Well, well, well who do we have here? If it isn't little miss. Loren Tate and her loser friends," I heard a high pitched voice behind me. "Oh I'm sorry, I meant_ only _friends."

Behind stands none other than Adrianna Masters. She's cheerleader, and unfortunately a very stereotypical one. She's Mel's brother, Phil's, girlfriend, and for some reason she loves to make my life miserable.

"What do you want Adrianna?" I try to make my voice as monotone as possible. I won't let her bother me, not today.

"Oh I was just wondering about that talent show. Did you make a fool out of yourself yet?"

"No I didn't, thank you very much for asking," I say faking a polite voice. Okay, so maybe it wasn't entirely true, but I wasn't about to tell her about the time at my first audition when I ran off stage. Wow, I can't believe how far I've come since then. And that was just a few weeks ago. "I actually made it to the live shows." I don't know why I told her, I guess I just need something to rub in her face. Not that it worked.

She looked confused, and maybe a little jealous but I could be wrong, for a minute before she quickly covered it with a sickening sweet smile. "Are you sure?" she said. "I mean surely it must be some kind of mistake, cause you and I both know that you got no talent."

The way she said it made her sound so innocent, but I know, we all do, what kind of person she is. She's the kind of person who bullies other, so that she can feel better with herself. Not that she needed too, she's gorgeous.

I didn't even realize that she had left before Mel brought me out of my daze. "Are you okay Lo?" she ask.

"Yeah I'm fine," I say with a forced smile while I get up from my chair. "Do you know what, I think I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll just see you guys tomorrow," I say walking out the door of the café, not even leaving time for them to answer.

I'm sitting on top of the hill overlooking the Valley. This is my secret spot. My dad took me up here about a month before he left us. He said that that it was our secret spot and that I couldn't tell anyone about it, so I haven't. Not even my mom.

I heard something that sounded like footsteps coming from behind me. I turned around and saw a dark shadow walking up the hill. I was just about to stand up and leave, when the shadow, or should I say he, finally came close enough for me to see his face.

"Eddie?" I say, shock clearly evident in my voice.

"Loren? What are you doing here, how do you know about my secret spot?" he asks, clearly just as shocked at me.

"Your secret spot? No this is my secret spot," I say teasingly. Instantly it's seems like my bad mood is gone, being replaced with a happy mood.

"No I don't think it is," he says, also teasingly, while sitting down beside me. "I've been coming here since my mother died. It helps me think," he says, his smile suddenly gone for a moment before being replaced with a smile I'm sure is fake.

"Well, I've been coming here since I was 4, it helps me think too. But I'm sure we can share. You just have to promise that you won't get in my way," I say trying to lighten up the mood. Apparently it works, cause his face lights up in a smile, a real one this time.

"Fair enough," he says, laughter evident in his voice.

We sit in comfortable silence for a while before he breaks it.

"So is there anything you wanna talk about?"

"No, not really," I say. "It's just… it seems so… unreal, I guess." I'm referring to the contest but it seems like he already knows it.

"I know," he says, "just give it some time; I'm sure it'll be better."

I feel like he wants to ask more questions, but I guess he decides not to, because we fall into a nice silence again. After a little while I begin to freeze and I can't feel my butt, so I decide that it might be best to head home. Even if I don't want to.

"I better get going, it's getting late," I say standing up. Eddie hurries up too, almost falling in the process. I can't help but giggle a little. What can I say, it's adorable.

"I'll drive you home," he says.

"Oh, no it's okay I'll just walk."

"Lo, I'm not gonna let you go home alone at this time. Come on," he says dragging me towards his car. Here it goes with the nickname again. It has long since gotten dark, and even though I'm actually pretty glad his driving me home, I wouldn't have accepted it if he hadn't called me Lo. I mean it's normal for my friends to call me that, I just don't know if he counts as my friend. Either way it sounds amazing when he calls me Lo.

I give him my address and before I know it we were sitting in his car outside my house. The trip was far too quick for my opinion.

"Thanks for the ride," I say opening the door.

"No problem," Eddie says, and just before I step out of the car he takes my hand stopping me.

"See you on Saturday," he says before planting a delicate kiss on the back of my hand.

"See you," I say, a heavy blush creeping up my neck. I can hear him laugh as I close the door, and hurry away from the car toward my front door. I don't look back, because I think I would have fainted if I did.

When I get inside I see my mom sitting on the couch reading a book.

"Hey mom, where have you been?"

I she looks up from her book, putting it away and pulling me in for a hug.

"I could as you the same. I was just… out… with some… friends. Yes, out with some friends. So… how did it go?" she says. Hmm, that was strange. Am I the only one thinking she acting a little… weird? I let it slide… for now.

"It went good, I made to the live shows," I say with a huge smile. My mom squeals like a teenager, and pulls me in for another hug. "I'm so proud of you honey," she says, sounding ecstatic.

"Thanks," I say. "Hey, I'm a little tired so I'm just gonna go to bed, okay?"

"Sure honey, I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" I say walking towards my room.

That night I fall asleep with a big smile on my face, dream about a certain pop star… on an unicorn and with no shirt on.

**So, here's a pretty long chapter for you guys. Who thinks that Nora is acting a little weird? *raises hand* What do you think her secret is. Let me know what you think, what I did good, what I did bad…**

**So, I'll admit that I'm a little annoyed that I got 99 reviews. I mean I'm so close to 100 reviews! Argh! But I'll get more than one review on this chapter, right? Right guys? Yes I'm talking to you! I'm just kidding! Although I love when you guys take your time writing me a review, it makes me so happy that you like my story. So please let the reviews come I love it! **


	10. Chapter 10

Loren's POV:

The week flew by fairly quick. By Wednesday everyone in my neighborhood seemed to know that I've made it to the live shows. Wherever I went people I've never met congratulated me, and to be honest it was embarrassing at first, but now I just politely say 'thanks' even though I don't think that I'll ever get used to people recognizing me on the street.

By Friday night almost all my bags were packed and I was ready to go. Luckily all my teachers were supportive and agreed to send me my homework so I wouldn't fail or anything. Perks of getting straight A's. I've been so busy all week that I haven't even had time to process everything that's happened, me auditioning and actually making it to the live shows, and I could feel everything catching up with me now. My palms were getting sweaty and I had to take several deep breaths to calm down my racing heart.

"Don't worry sweetheart, everything's gonna be alright," my mom says from the kitchen where she has just finished drying off the last plate. I'm sitting at the kitchen table trying to finish some of my homework so I don't have to worry about it this weekend. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning, and I just really want to get used to be in the contestants' house before I have to worry about homework.

"I know mom I'm just nervous," I say. I don't even bother trying to hide it from her; I know she knows I'm nervous. She sees everything.

Mom puts down the now wet dish towel and sits down in the chair beside me. "I hope you know that I'm very proud of you no matter what happens. Mel and Adam too," she says with a serious expression on her face. "I know mom. I'm proud of myself too," I say, and it's true. No matter what happens I'm proud of myself for making it this far.

The contestants' house, or should I say apartment, is located in the better part of town. It's a huge, modern building with lots of expensive apartments in it, and of course the whole penthouse is reserved for the nine contestants left in this competition. There's paparazzi all over the front of the building, but luckily they have an underground car park, so you can get in without getting seen, which is good cause I have no experience with paparazzi what so ever, and I have no idea what to do if they started attacking me.

I grab my bags out of the back of my car. There's only two and they're not particularly big, so I have no problem carrying them. The elevator ride to the penthouse is long and awkward. I'm the only one in the elevator and the only thing breaking the silence is the classical music playing from the speakers in the corner.

I feel the elevator slowing down finally coming to a stop. The doors open and I'm looking into a big living room. Well I guess that front doors are so yesterday.

The living room is very modern; everything is white, black or grey. There's nothing here that makes the place personal, but I guess that's because no one lives here and we're just staying here for a short period of time. I can see the kitchen from here, where two chefs are standing, ready to prepare whatever food we want. I could get used to that. There's also a big dining table just beside the kitchen. In one end of the living room there's a huge wall completely covered by windows, where you could see probably all of LA, and by the opposite wall there's a huge staircase which I assume is leading to the bedrooms. I'm completely blown away; I've never seen anything like this before.

"Loren? Loren Tate is that you?"

I look towards the stairs where I hear someone say my name, even though that should be impossible cause I've never met any of the other contestants, apart from those on Eddie's team of course. Cameron is standing on the top of the stairs with a shocked expression, and I'm sure mine looks just the same.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see you again," Cameron says walking hastily down the stairs. I'm not sure if he just insulted me but I just shrug it off, because I didn't think I'd make it this far myself so who am I to judge. "Me neither," I say with a smile. I'm happy to see Cameron, because that means I won't be completely alone in this huge apartment. The only downside is that if Cameron is here it means that Chloe is too.

"Where's Chloe?" I ask voicing my thoughts.

"She's upstairs, unpacking. I swear she's packed her whole closet, and she has a walk-in closet, "he says with a small laugh. "I'm really happy to see you," he continues, "So you're on Eddie's team?"

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you're on Laura's," I say since I remember that he dances and Laura is the only judge whom is a professional dancer.

"Yep, she's great," he says.

I don't know what to say next, and apparently he doesn't either, cause an awkward silence settles over us. None of us really knows what to say and my eyes start wandering the room, trying to find something interesting, while Cameron has taken a sudden interest in his shoes.

"I'm just gonna go find my room," I say deciding to break the silence. I've never been good with awkward silences and I'm always the first one to break it.

"Sure, you do that. I'll just be down here," Cameron says, maybe a little too eagerly. I'm just gonna pretend that that didn't offend me just a little. He probably isn't good with awkward silences either.

I grab my bags and start walking up the stairs. On top of the stairs there's a long hallway with doors on each side of it. I start walking down the hallway looking at the nametag on each door. Suddenly the door on my right opens and I collide with the person walking out of it, sending my tumbling back a bit but luckily I don't fall.

"What the hell do you think you're do-" a high pithed voice says before cutting itself off. Oh no. "Oh, it's you," the voice says now full of disgust. I look up from the floor to find Chloe looking me up and down making me feel self-conscious. Her undoubtedly colored, blonde hair is pin straight and her makeup is heavy. She's wearing a very short, tight crop-top, a pair of tight jeans and of course heels. She snickers at me, probably because I'm wearing a black top, some very baggy and comfy sweatpants and my trustworthy, old converse.

"You know, I'm very surprised that you're here," She says. "Their standards must be very low this year."

"It's nice to see you too Chloe," I say. I'm not gonna start arguing with her, it helps no one. I just really wanna get to my room so that I can get some rest. I know it's only noon but I'm gonna try to get as much rest as possible, cause were starting tomorrow and I know I won't get much rest these next days or even weeks. 'Kill them with love' my mom always said, and that's what I'm gonna do.

"I like your jeans Chloe, where did you get them?" I ask her.

"Doesn't matter, they're too expensive for you and you wouldn't get those fat thighs down in them anyway," she says. I don't correct her even though she's probably right. Not because my thighs are exceptionally fat, but because those jeans looks like they were made to fit a stick.

"It was nice talking to you Chloe, let's do it again sometime," I say walking past her down the hall. She doesn't say anything, just turns around and start walking towards the stairs. Living with her is definitely not something I'm looking forward to.

You know what Chloe, let's not do it again sometime.

I found my room and immediately started unpacking. It isn't insanely big like the rest of the apartment but it's definitely isn't small either. Like the rest of the apartment it's modern and without anything personal. Luckily I brought some pictures with me, so maybe that can make the room feel a little more personal. There's a huge queen sized bed, a dresser, some tables and chairs and just like in the living room there's one wall completely covered by windows, even though I don't think that it's practical when I have to change. It's a good thing there's curtains.

While I'm digging through one of my bags trying to find my computer there's a knock on the door. "Come in," I yell while I continue digging through my bag. I hear the door open and the close again meaning that there's someone in my room. I let out a deep breath, giving up on finding my computer, and turn to the person. To say I had a shock would be an understatement.

"Jake, what are you doing here?" I blurt out.

"I came to talk to you," he says casually. He looks quite calm right now, but I know that all that can change with a blink of an eye.

"About what?" I ask even though I have a pretty good idea.

"I came here to talk about Eddie." Ah, I knew it.

"Look, if you're gonna tell me to stay away from him then it's gonna be really hard seeing as he's my mentor," I say. "I know that," Jake says. "But he has to get his priorities straight and focus on his work, and he can't do that if you're always distracting him. So you have to stop whatever it is you're doing."

"I don't even know what I'm doing," I say, my voice rising a little. So he just came in here accusing me of doing something he doesn't know what is, something I don't even know what is. Yeah, that seems fair.

I expect Jake to raise his voice too, but he's surprisingly calm. "You just have to stay away from him when you're not forced to be with him, okay?" he asks, but I wasn't really a question more of a demand. He doesn't even give me time to answer before he's out the door.

What the heck!? Do people just enjoy being rude to me today?

**What do you think? Just a filler chapter but I promise once the live shows really start there will be a lot of drama. R&R… please?**

**I know that some of you think that it takes me a lot of time updating, but as I've said I have a lot on my plate. I've played soccer practically every day this week and my homework is killing me. I really don't have that much time to write. I thought that since it's Saturday and it's raining, like usual, then I would spend all day writing – which I have. So I hope it's worth it since I have a sh*tload of homework tomorrow haha. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading and for not giving up on me and my story. Please just be patient** **and show your love!**


	11. Chapter 11

Loren's POV:

"Okay let's get started," Eddie says sitting down on the piano bench. I turns out that this huge apartment has a music room. Well actually it has 3, one for each team. Or Laura's is more of a dance room than a music room since she and all her contestants were dancers. There's also a pool on the room, but you don't even want me to get started on that.

Right now I'm in the music room that belongs to Eddie's team. I used all day yesterday settling in, and luckily there weren't any more drama. I think I've had enough drama these last few weeks than I normally get on a year, and I'm sure that there's a lot more drama to come in the future.

"I'm sure you know that there's only a few weeks to the first live show and that means we have to get started immediately," Eddie continues. He seems a lot more professional than he usually does, not that it's a problem, I just don't want it to be weird. I mean I kind of considered us friends.

"The first round is all about getting people to like you and your voice. That's why I chose a song that fits you very well, and then the upcoming rounds we can experiment a lot more with different types of songs." If I make it to the upcoming rounds I mutter under my breath, but I don't know if he heard me or not. I don't think that he did cause his professional attitude doesn't change a bit. He hands me the song and gets off the piano bench. "I want you to play piano to this song to really show off your abilities," he says nodding his head towards the bench.

"Let's get to it then," I say. I sit down at the bench and look at the song. Luckily I know this song so I won't have to practice playing it, and I know the lyrics by heart.

I start playing. I'm not gonna do it perfect the first time I'm just gonna run through it really quick. When I'm done I look back at Eddie to see him completely zooned out. He was staring at the piano, though it looked like he had been staring at the back of my head, and it didn't look like he was planning on blinking any time soon.

"Um, Eddie?" I said waving my hand a little to get his attention. I didn't really think that he had been staring at me but I was still trying to ignore the bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach. He seemed to snap out of it meeting my eyes for a short second, before turning around looking out of the huge window. It seemed like that at least one wall in each room was filled completely with windows.

"Do it again," He said still looking out of the window. Okay something is definitely wrong with him. As his friend I think I have to find out what it is. But I'm still not sure if I'm the only one that thinks that were friends, and he's still my judge and mentor, so I just turn around to the piano without another word.

After about 2 hours of intense practice we were called downstairs. When we came down I saw it wasn't just us it was everyone who had gotten the message. Laura and her contestants, I know one of them is Chloe and Cameron but I've never seen the others, were all there, the same with Jeffrey, who was looking as professional as ever, and his 3 contestants whom I've never seen before. Chris and Becca, the other contestants from Team Eddie, are also there so the only ones missing are Eddie and I.

"Oh good you're here," an elderly man with a slight accent says. His hair is white, he's wearing big glasses and he's very petite, even though I don't think that's the right word to use about a man. I don't know why but something about him just screams French. He's standing behind a camera so I assume that he's a photographer.

He orders us to stand in a long row, with Team Eddie in the right corner, Team Laura in the middle and then Team Jeffrey in the left corner. I stand beside Becca, who's beside Laura, and I expect Eddie to stand beside me but he pushes Chris in between us. I'm sure he just does it because Jeffrey is also standing in the corner and it has to look pretty, but I can't help but feel a little bad. I just try my best to smile while the photo is taking, and that is when I come to a conclusion. A very important conclusion.

I like Eddie Duran

I've been avoiding Eddie for two weeks. The only time we've been in the same room together is when we've been practicing, or else there have always been other people. Actually I would try my best to slip unnoticed out of the room as soon as Eddie entered it. But really it's not that hard to avoid him because it kind of feels like he's avoiding me too.

I'm not denying that I like Eddie, cause I know I do. The problem is that I know he will never like me. Not the way I like him. He'll like me as an acquaintance, and friend at the most. I mean he's a man, four years older than me, and I'm still a teenager. And he's my mentor! Me liking him is nothing more than trouble and unnecessary drama.

It's the night before the very first live show and I can't sleep. I would say that it's because I'm nervous but truthfully that's only a little part of it. Not only have I been avoiding Eddie in person but I've also been avoiding thinking about him. But now when I'm lying in my bed at midnight, Eddie seems to be the only thing that pops into my head. I've tried thinking about my mom, my friends and even my future but nothing works.

I finally decide that sleep isn't gonna come any time soon I get out of my bed. I would go down in the kitchen to get something to drink, but unfortunately there's not tea and I know that I will be up until Christmas if I drink coffee, so I decide that now would be an as good time as any to try the pool. I haven't had time to do that the past two weeks so why not?

I go to my dresser, thankful that Mel decided to pack me a bikini without me knowing, and pull out my white bikini with white and blue dip-dyed fringes. It's not normally something that I wear but it's very pretty and it's not like anyone is gonna see me.

I grab a light blue towel and make my way to the roof. As soon as I open the door my jaw is on the floor. There are windows all the way around, except the wall where the door is aka where I'm standing, so you can look out on almost all of LA, and in the middle of the room there's a large pool. The water in the pool is reflecting on the windows and the wall, making the room light up.

I put my towel on one of the chairs beside the pool and dive in. The water is very cold but I still stay under as long as possible, wishing that I could just stay here forever and forget about the rest of the world. Unfortunately my lungs soon start craving air and I'm forced to get up. I get up just in time to hear a big splash. I turn around and don't see anyone, but the water is very uneasy meaning that someone definitely just jumped in.

Not even 5 seconds later I see Eddie emerge from the water. His dark brown hair is wet, dripping down on his defined jaw. I can't see below his shoulders, where I'm sure there is a six-pack, but what I can see is his big strong shoulders and arms. Eddie's eyes widen when he sees me and I feel my face heat up. He just totally caught me checking him out.

"What are you doing here?" he asks still a little stunned. "I didn't see you; I didn't think anyone was here."

"I was under the, uhm… yeah," I say awkwardly. We used to make easy conversation but after the conclusion it's just like everything between us is awkward. I'm glad he doesn't know how I feel about him then things would be even worse.

"So, couldn't sleep?" Eddie asks. I nod. "What about you?" "Same," he says. We both swim to the edge so we don't have to use a lot of energy not to drown. Not that I think I would, cause I'm sure that Eddie would save me way before that happened. Oh no, bad idea, now all I can think about is Eddie as a lifeguard.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" asks Eddie.

"Yeah. I'm pretty confident in the song though."

"And you should be. It sounds amazing." I'm trying my best not to blush.

"Well, I've learned from the best," I say. I don't know what happened but it's like we're back to the way we we're before I moved into the contestants' apartment. Fun, easy going and maybe, just maybe, a little flirty. I'm not sure; I'm not good with that kind of stuff.

"That's true," Eddie says with a playful smile that makes his eyes glow. I slap him playfully on the chest, momentarily blown away by his hard muscles.

"I promise Loren, you are gonna do fine," Eddie says just above a whisper, his appearance suddenly turning very serious. I haven't really noticed before but we are very close, I can feel the heat radiating off his body. Our faces are merely inches apart, and it may be my imagination but it feels like he's leaning closer…

**Sorry, not the longest I know. But on the bright side, I updated yay! As I said before I am really busy with school and stuff, and I've actually just gotten a job so I will have even less time but I promise that I won't forget about the story.**

**There probably won't be an update for about 3 weeks but when it comes there's gonna be a surprise. Can anyone guess what it is? And it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Loren and Eddie.**

**Sooooo… thoughts? Please take your time to write a review I really appreciate it.**

**Slightly important:**

**I have this new story in my head and I'm obviously not gonna start writing it before this one is finished, but I'm actually really looking forward to it. I'm not gonna tell you a lot about it, but it's gonna be sweet and sappy and romantic and just completely cliché. There's not gonna be and evil dad or a lot of drama or anything, it's just gonna be about two people falling in love. So I guess my question is… would you read it? Let me know in a comment.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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